Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka "The Nora Ephron"

This may be the most sought-after cookie recipe in the book, the cookie that makes it into Seattle Metropolitan magazine's food lover's guide year after year. Once, when director, screenwriter (When Harry Met Sally), and novelist Nora Ephron was in town, she stopped by the dahlia Bakery and bought a few of these cookies. Later she e-mailed me, saying this was her all-time favorite and asked for the recipe. Naturally, I sent it to Nora along with a big package of cookies. When I asked Nora if I could name the cookie after her in my cookbook, she said, "Are you kidding me? This may be the greatest cookie ever ever ever."

A sandwich cookie takes more effort than a drop cookie, because you have to make both cookies and filling. In addition, this recipe involves a chilling step and requires the cookies to be double-panned. But the results are worth it for the best-textured peanut butter cookie with the creamiest peanut filling.

After arranging the scoops of cookie batter on a baking sheet, slip another baking sheet underneath to double-pan so the cookies bake more slowly and evenly. Since you can bake only eight cookies per baking sheet, and the cookies must be double-panned, you'll have to bake them in batches. Be sure to let the baking sheets cool thoroughly before reusing them.

We use two different peanut butters in this recipe. Skippy creamy peanut butter makes the filling smooth and creamy. Adams crunchy peanut butter, which like other natural peanut butters must be well mixed before using to incorporate the oil, has just the right almost-runny consistency and crunchy bits of peanuts to give the cookies the perfect texture. To re-create our peanut butter sandwich cookies, we suggest you use the same or similar brands. We prefer moist brown sugar from a resealable plastic bag rather than from a box.

This recipe requires a 2-hour or longer chill of the shaped cookie dough, so plan accordingly.

The amount of salt in the filling is a perfect balance to the creamy peanut butter, but if you are substituting table salt for the kosher salt called for in the recipe, be sure to cut the amount in half.

Preparation

1. To make the peanut butter filling, combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl using a whisk. Cover and chill the mixture until you are ready to fill the cookies.

2. To make the peanut butter cookies, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the oats and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, chunky peanut butter, and sugars and cream on medium-high speed until very fluffy and pale, at least 3 minutes, scraping down the mixing bowl as needed.

4. Turn the mixer to medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate each egg and scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients on low speed in 3 to 4 additions and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula, going all the way to the bottom of the bowl to mix in the dry ingredients well.

5. Use an ice cream scoop to portion all the cookies in 1-ounce scoops (or use about 1 heaping tablespoon per cookie), placing the scoops on a parchment lined baking sheet. You should have about 48 cookies. (You can place all the cookies close together for the chilling step—you will space them for baking later.) Chill the scooped cookies for at least 2 hours or longer.

6. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375°F. Arrange 8 cookies, spaced evenly apart and staggered, on each parchment-lined baking sheet. (Note: Do not flatten the cookies; they will flatten as they bake.) Set the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to double pan and place it in the oven. Bake until evenly golden, about 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. If you have 2 double-panned pans in the oven at the same time, also switch them between the racks. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing the cookies with a metal spatula. Allow the cookies to cool completely before filling them.

7. To make a cookie sandwich, turn one cookie flat side up and spread with a little less than 2 teaspoons of filling. (If you have a 1-ounce scoop, you can slightly underfill it to portion the filling or underfill a tablespoon.) Top with another cookie, flat side down, pressing gently. Repeat until all the cookies are assembled into sandwiches.

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Reviews

Yes, they are delicious! However, the directions as followed did not work for me. For the second batch I just flattened them, as the first batch produced cookies that were way too large. I had to use a round cutter to make them appear uniform. Definitely consider ignoring the instructions to put one pan on top of the other. Those cookies stuck to the pan. As I said, they tasted very good, but for the effort involved I would not make them again.

These turned out quite nice. I agree with another comment below, that you don't need to add all that butter to the filling. I did however, add some cinnamon to the filling for an extra boost. These cookies are good on their own, but nice as a sandwich too. When I make these again, I would make them 1/2 oz cookie instead of 1. These are quite rich so smaller size would be nice.

Now, this is a tasty peanut butter cookie. I could not find Adams peanut butter at my grocery store, but I was able to find another natural-style peanut butter and used that in the cookies themselves. The filling was delicious, although I think I might use less butter next time. I made these for a care package that I shipped to my brother, and a few days later I received a delighted call from him and my nephews who were happily eating cookies. (Made some extra for husband and friends at a Memorial Day party. Also a hit then!)

I had set the bar pretty high when I saw the Dalia Bakery connection as that bakery rocks. But,.... loved 'em but still gave 3.5 as they weren't the best thing EVER which I save the full stars for. Will consider eliminating or reducing butter from filling as 3 cubes of butter for not a ton of cookies is obscene and saved for 4+star desserts. If I eliminate butter I would increase honey and p. sugar a bit to hold it together. Won't use skippy as it has shortening/h. fat in it...but Adams worked great. Amazing how perfectly round they baked. Also think the "base" cookie would be fun to play with for other recipes by eliminating filling entirely. For example, putting peanut butter chips (T. Joes has them, W.Foods too) in them would be really good.

Haven't made this yet but based on the reviews it seems I must. I think I will change it up a little by making the dough, rolling into small balls big enough for my mini muffin pan, bake, then sink a Reese's mini peanut butter cup inside as soon as they come out of the oven. Once cool I will make the filling, put it in a piping bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe on top of the cookie. Maybe even garnish with a little chocolate jimmies or shaved chocolate. Yeah, can't see them hanging around long that way either!

I just made these and I cannot get over how amazing they are! I'm normally my worst critic too when it comes to baking new recipes but this is absolutely the best peanut butter cookie, EVER! I wondered if anyone had any suggestions on the best way to store these, I was thinking in the fridge (due to the soft texture of the filling) but bring to room temp before eating? If they last that long... :)

These cookies are delicious! Really, more of a 3.5 star. The filling is light and creamy. I used smooth peanut butter for the dough instead of natural chunky since I didn't have any in the cupboard
However, the batter is very soft (perhaps my butter was too melted) so I have a couple recommendations. I'd put the cookie dough in the fridge between switching out batches in order to firm up the dough. Secondly, a tablespoon per cookie is WAY too large. I think this type of cookie should be smaller and more delicate. Having such a large cookie sandwich looses some of the appeal and makes it 'super-sized'.
Will keep in rotation and update.

beatrix is absolutely right. One ounce equals 28.3g. Sometimes the math is right and sometimes it isn't. I'm going to assume the oz. weight is more accurate since it was the first unit provided. These reviews, especially the "cream" questions, were very entertaining. I'll come back and rate once I make them with the ounce weights.

this recipe confused me a bit since 6 tablespoons of butter does not weigh 168 grams, and 1.5 cups of flour does not weigh 227 grams (a full stick of butter=113g, and a cup of AP will be 120~125g). I wasn't sure which set of measurements to follow -- did anyone else have this problem?

These cookies are
what I imagine
Nutter Butters will
taste like in
heaven. I followed
the recipe to the
letter, and they
turned out
perfectly. I used a
1-oz. scoop, and,
unlike the previous
reviewer, I found it
to be exactly
correct. I ended up
with 47 perfect 1-oz
scoops (I guess all
the licking of
fingers along the
way caused me to
lose 1 scoopful). I
was worried the
cookies would be too
sweet (the batter
was, to my taste),
but, once baked,
they were just
right--slightly
under-sweet to
balance the sweeter
filling. I had to
bake for 15-16 mins
to achieve "evenly
golden." The cooled
cookies are crispy
and chewy at the
same time. (Must be
all the butter. I
calculated that each
sandwich with
filling contains 1
oz of butter!) I
have a 2-teaspoon
scoop, which I used
for the filling. The
1-oz scoop would be
way too much, even
if underfilled,
since 1 oz = 2 Tbs =
6 tsp. Now I have to
finish baking the
final trays. The
baking process does
take forever...

As noted on another review, a 1 ounce scoop is way too big. No way will you get 48 cookies! If using a 1 oz. scoop fill no more than 3/4. Also, ever tried whisking peanut butter? Mix the filling ingredients thoroughly first with a wooden spoon and THEN whisk until shiny. End result still delicious but directions are far from accurate.

This is not a
review...yet. I just
want to add a few
kind words to Cook
from Canmore.
Perhaps
this cook has not
done much baking yet
and is still
learning
terminology. We do
come to this site to
learn, don't we? And
perhaps the English
language has a few
confusing quirks
here and there. To
"cream" butter and
sugar is to beat
them together until
the mixture is
fluffy. If you click
on the "video" tab
above, you'll be
taken to a demo of
the technique. There
is also a technique
called "reverse
creaming"
demonstrated by the
Cooks Illustrated
crew for their
luscious New York
Crumb Cake. Happy
baking! Now, on to
those great looking
cookies to pay
homage to the
wonderful Nora!

OMG are these ever good. They are
totally worth the time to make them. I
think my cookies were slightly larger
than they should have been and I have
since purchased a cookie scoop. They
are light and buttery, creamy and
crunchy. Hands down - THE BEST peanut
butter cookie EVER!!